Ukraine earlier blacklisted United Russia and six other Russian political parties.
June 22, 2018 - Russian lawmaker comments on Kiev's new sanctions
Russian lawmaker comments on Kiev's new sanctions
By imposing new sanctions on Moscow, Kiev is trying to retain the West’s support but its decisions are ridiculous and will not affect the United Russia party, Deputy Secretary of the party’s General Council Sergei Zheleznyak told TASS.
"These strange and ridiculous sanctions that the so-called Ukrainian authorities have imposed on United Russia will affect neither our party’s activities nor our position on foreign policy," Zheleznyak, who is also a member of the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) Foreign Affairs Committee, said commenting on Ukraine’s expansion of sanctions against Russia. According to him, "these Ukrainian sanctions, which are inadequate from the legal standpoint, are nothing more but a desperate attempt to attract the West’s attention."
The senior lawmaker noted that United Russia was not active in Ukraine and did not have any assets in the country, moreover, it was impossible under the Russian legislation. "So Mr. Poroshenko has once again failed to impress the public by slamming doors," Zheleznyak stressed.
"The Ukrainian authorities have tried all the possible ways to attract the attention of their western sponsors but those seem to have grown tired of Kiev’s unpredictability, bloodlust and larceny," the lawmaker said. In his view, Kiev "is desperately trying to retain the West’s support by taking steps against Russia and intimidating the Europeans by citing the non-existent Russian threat, Russia’s alleged attempts to undermine Europe’s unity in regard to the Nord Stream 2 project and a threat that the EU is allegedly facing because of its cooperation with Russia."
Zheleznyak expressed regret that "in the past several years, Kiev has been unable to understand that by blacklisting Russian citizens and organizations, it will not make the country change its foreign policy." "We will continue insisting that Kiev put an end to its aggression against Donbass and implement the Minsk Agreements. We will also continue to provide humanitarian aid to people who are facing predicaments because of the Ukrainian authorities’ actions," he concluded.
Sanctions on Russian parties
Ukraine earlier blacklisted United Russia and six other Russian political parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Rodina (or Motherland), the Democratic Party of Russia, the Agrarian Party of Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Patriots of Russia. Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko signed the expanded blacklist on Thursday.
Kiev said that those parties’ assets in Ukraine would be frozen and capital flight would be banned. Their licenses and other permissions on importing and exporting currency assets have been revoked and restrictions have been put on cash withdrawals using credit cards.
June 21, 2018 - Putin expresses concern to Poroshenko over casualties of bombardments in Donbass
Putin expresses concern to Poroshenko over casualties of bombardments in Donbass
The two leaders exchanged opinion over the implementation of Russia’s initiative for establishing a special UN mission in Ukraine.
In a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concern over growing civilian casualties of Ukrainian bombardments in Donbass, the Kremlin’s press-service said on Thursday.
"Putin expressed concern over worsening tensions in Donbass and growing civilian casualties as a result of more frequent bombardments by the Ukrainian military," the statement runs.
The two leaders exchanged opinion over the implementation of Russia’s initiative for establishing a special UN mission for the protection of the OSCE monitors in Ukraine.
"The theme was touched upon of exchanging persons held captive and visits by human rights commissioners from both countries to Russian citizens in custody in Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens in custody in Russia," the Kremlin added.
Back-dated May 19, 2018 - MAJOR: NATO Troops Killed in Donbass, War Provocations Suspected
MAJOR: NATO Troops Killed in Donbass, War Provocations Suspected - Fort Russ
Translated by Jafe Arnold
Over the past two days, a number of important developments have taken place in Donbass and Ukraine.
Firstly, on May 17th,
a group of NATO troops from the US and Canada stepped into a minefield near Avdeevka, a move which ended in explosions and, according to DPR reports, deaths and woundings.
This news was published by Russia’s leading news agencies, which is in itself an important development, since earlier such resources had been very cautious in speaking of NATO involvement in the war in Donbass. Most significantly of all,
Rossiiskaiia Gazeta, the
official organ of the Government of the Russian Federation, shared the news.
To briefly recap, Avdeekva is a small satellite town of Donetsk. Since the very beginning of the conflict, the town has been occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Avdeekva is known as an industrial giant, whose coke-chemical plant has worked throughout all four years of the war and been a major source of contention between oligarchs. The overwhelming majority of Avdeevka’s residents support the DPR, and one of Donetsk’s lines of defense runs right in front of the city.
It is in this very city that Ukrainian troops and OSCE observers have been spotted collaborating during military operations.
Allow me to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that
the DPR’s military intelligence reported at least two days before the minefield incident that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ command is preparing a provocation involving NATO troops. It seems that they were deliberately sent into the minefield to blame Western troop deaths on DPR military sabotage. Such information was shared with journalists on May 15th by the speaker of the Donetsk People’s Republic’s army, Eduard Basurin.
But this story has another side. NATO troops, who are officially not supposed to be in Donbass, are undeniably, directly involved in the armed conflict. The US and EU’s constant accusations that Moscow is militarily and technologically aiding the Donbass Republics can now be rebutted by Russia’s foreign ministry.
Moscow could now present evidence that the US and NATO are directly participating in the war.
The next piece of news is that also near Avdeevka, on May 17th, the commander of the DPR’s Pyatnashka international brigade, Oleg Mamiev, was killed. The backbone of Pyatnashka was made up of 15 fighters from Abkhazia, and the name “Interbrigada” was meant as a direct allusion to the international volunteer brigades from the Spanish Civil War. The unit was subsequently joined by many volunteers from North and South Ossetia, like Mamiev himself, who proved to be one of the most famous and authoritative Donbass commanders, a person who is spoken of with only the utmost respect. Mamiev was killed in the trenches alongside his soldiers.
In addition to these incidents, a number of events have taken place which would be difficult to fit into one article, but
their significance can be expressed with one short word: war.
Ukraine is continuing to accumulate manpower and military vehicles and bring ammunitions up to the frontline. Kiev has essentially discarded its pretending to comply with the Minsk Agreements, and Avdeevka, Gorlovka, and the Svetlodarsk arch (near Debaltsevo) have been particularly “hot” as of late. Overall, things have been “hotter” in the DPR than in the LPR. Hence the differing assessments of the prospects of war from the two republics which I have shared in a number of articles for Fort Russ News.
Some of my friends in Donbass believe that the Americans and, as follows, the Ukrainians expect to play a long-term game. In other words, they want to wage a war of attrition. There is merit to this theory, but
I nonetheless do not believe that the Ukrainians are capable of maintaining the status-quo for any significant period of time. Their resources and especially their patience are severely limited. Therefore, there are evermore grounds to believe that
the war in Donbass will “wake up” again sooner or later.
Jun 21, 2018 - NATO has no chance to take Crimea, warns Russian Defense Minister
NATO has no chance to take Crimea, warns Russian Defense Minister - Fort Russ
MOSCOW –
The Russian troops in the Crimea will give “no chance” to opponents who dare to attack the peninsula, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.
“A unique interdisciplinary group has been created and strengthened on the peninsula. Its modern state-of-the-art weapons systems do not give a chance to a potential adversary who dares to invade what is intrinsically Russian territory,” he said.
According to him, for Russia this peninsula “always played a role of special importance”. The minister also stressed that, over two and a half centuries, events in the Crimea have been vital to the country’s fate.
“The glorious victories of the Black Sea Fleet have made international history and became our pride,” he added.
According to him, today the Crimea “continues to play a critical role in protecting the country.”
The defense minister also drew attention to NATO’s activation south-west of Russia’s borders.
According to Shoigu, NATO’s actions require a symmetrical response from Russia to neutralize the challenges to national security.
“Since the beginning of the year, 13 large-scale maneuvers involving more than 40,000 military personnel and 2,000 units of military equipment have been organized by the Alliance in the strategic south-western region of Russia,” said the minister.
As a reciprocal measure, the minister proposed to “combine strategic containment actions by increasing combat capabilities of the Southern Military District of Russia.”
Although NATO has tried to indirectly attack Russia in Ukraine, South Ossetia and Syria, Moscow has resisted all these events successfully.
This has seen the liberation of Crimea, the self-declared independence of Lugansk and Donetsk, the preservation of South Ossetia’s sovereignty and the successful resistance of Syria against NATO-backed jihadist forces. Russia has played a pivotal role on all these fronts, effectively frustrating the US-led NATO alliance as it has not been able to achieve its power projections and weaken the Eurasian giant.
Jun 21, 2018 - Donbass Drama: Poroshenko and OSCE “Wake Up” after Putin Warns of WAR
Donbass Drama: Poroshenko and OSCE "Wake Up" after Putin Warns of WAR - Fort Russ
Translated by Jafe Arnold
Yesterday, June 20th, in Rostov-on-Don I met with my colleagues from Stakhanov (Lugansk People’s Republic). The latter city is on the very front line in Donbass, literally within several kilometers of the Ukrainian army’s positions. According to my colleagues, the situation in the area remains tense. The Ukrainian Armed Forces shell the LPR’s People’s Militia and civilians’ homes on a daily basis, usually with mortars.
Yet there is one particular recent trend worth highlighting, and that is that
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observers have begun to more frequently record the Ukrainian side’s violations and call on Kiev to comply with the ceasefire. It is as if the “sleeping” OSCE observers, as Donbass people call them, have suddenly woken up.
However, this OSCE behavior has not found reflection in Ukrainian troops’ behavior, as the attacks have not ceased.
Periodically over the past few weeks the intensity of Ukrainian attacks has reached critical points, even resembling the fire density of the hottest summer months of 2014. Even if their frequency is somewhat down, their intensity is up.
My friends from the LPR are of the opinion that full-scale war will not break out in Donbass in the near future, by which they mean the coming weeks. Of course, there is always the 1% uncertainty that the incompetent Ukrainian leadership will give the order for an offensive or be forced by foreign “friends”, such as the Washington hawks, to rush into battle. Nevertheless, war remains unlikely.
Meanwhile, information resources in the Donbass republics continue to claim the arrival of new Ukrainian troops and vehicles to the front line, which official Russian “propaganda” delicately calls the “contact line.”
Insider information on Ukrainian army plans has also appeared in the press. On June 19th, a Ukrainian journalist with accreditation and contact with the headquarters of Ukraine’s United Forces Operation in Kramatorsk (Donetsk region), got in touch with the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic and leaked information on UAF military facilities and operations. According to reports of this Ukrainian journalist’s leak, the UAF is in fact planning an offensive on both republics soon. The journalist passed along his knowledge of the Ukrainians’ attack plans. According to this source, the plan is to cut between the DPR and LPR’s lines of defense.
A number of observers in the military circles of the DPR have already expressed doubts as to this source’s credibility. Indeed, there are more than a few grounds to believe that we are dealing with disinformation by Ukraine.
However, Donbass and Russian media have reported the deployment of Ukrainian tanks and various artillery systems closer to the frontline. What’s more, the Operation United Forces headquarters has set up ammunition points close to the frontline. One such temporary ammunition depot was established near Konstantinovka and was subsequently blown up – it is unclear whether this was done by DPR artillery or the Ukrainians themselves in order to eliminate the traces of potential ammunition theft, which is a ubiquitous problem in Ukraine. The deployment of military field hospitals near the frontline and the distribution of a large number of night vision devices to UAF forces have also been reportedly sighted.
Again, it must be admitted that
many observers have suggested that the Ukrainian army is not ready for any large-scale offensive operations. First and foremost, they are stuck with bad weapons and Kiev is in no position to arm its troops with modern weaponry in the required volumes, as the Ukrainian defense industry has continued to disappoint. Even the much-vaunted Ukrainian Oplot T-84 tank turned out to be a wreck.
To recall, at the recent NATO tank biathlon in Germany (which was set up because US and NATO countries are afraid of competing in the original tank biathlons held by Russia), Ukrainian tankists came in 8th place.
Another argument against war being imminent is that
the Ukrainian army would need huge amounts of ammunition, spare parts for military equipment and vehicles, rations, etc., which would also demand huge transportation and logistics operations. Ukrainian railways would be literally filled with columns of military supplies, which we have not seen.
According to military analysts, as things stand Ukraine has the capacity to wage a full-scale war for a maximum of two to three days. But
Kiev must remember how Hitler’s invasion of the USSR ended when the Wehrmacht bet on a blitzkrieg and was not ready for war in Russian winter. It cannot be forgotten that many of Ukraine’s United Forces’ Operation’s officers learned from Soviet textbooks, graduated from Soviet military academies, and the head of Kiev’s operation in Donbass, Sergey Naev, even served in the Russian Army in the 1990’s. It is therefore unlikely that Ukraine’s military will opt to repeat the adventure of 1941.
In numerous articles and interviews for Russian media, I have repeated my argument that
there will be no war in the near future. Why? Because Russia’s recent demonstrative war games successfully frightened the Ukrainians. The war games held in Russia’s Southern Military District, especially areas bordering the DPR, LPR, Ukraine, and in Crimea, together with Vladimir Putin’s hotline warnings on June 7th, have demonstrated to the Ukrainians that
Russia is not joking around. If the Ukrainian army risks it all and goes on an offensive during the World Cup, it will be destroyed swiftly. Then Kiev will be next in line for liberation from the Nazi plague.
Today we also learned of Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko’s latest phone negotiation, the official goal of which – if we believe the Ukrainian “president’s” press service – was,
like the last call, discussing the fate of Ukrainian “political prisoners”, by which is meant Ukrainian terrorists arrested for preparing explosions at public events in Crimea.
It is difficult to say whether this stated goal was really the content of the negotiations.
What is clear is that Poroshenko has received a warning from Vladimir Putin that Russia will defend Donbass from any Ukrainian invasion. Now
Poroshenko is faced with fending off the attacks of the radical Nazi street movements in Ukraine who want war, and playing the part of a tough leader capable of communicating harshly and uncompromisingly with Putin. In reality,
Poroshenko is more likely to call Putin to beg for guarantees as to his wealth and safety in the case of any war between Russia and Ukraine than he is to put up any courageous fight for Ukrainian terrorists.
